Version 1.2

Unowned pickaxes have been placed in the mine locations added or edited by this mod to enable players to use some of the new ore deposits more easily

Some AI packages have been altered to prevent NPC clustering

Some of the landscape, patrol routes, idle markers, and funiture have been adjusted or added to in a few spots around Soljund's Sinkhole

A few minor edits from the latest USLEEP that were missed in the last update regarding faction relations have now been forwarded

Version 1.1

A food stall and a vendor to tend to it have been added to the Loreius Farm location

A house and general merchant vendor has been added to the Soljund's Sinkhole location

Additional workers have been added to the Kolskeggr Mine and Soljund's Sinkhole locations that will work both inside and outside of the mines. These NPCs will NOT be present in the interiors of each mine until the respective quests to clear each location of hostiles is completed by the player

Some faction relation settings have been altered so that guards that were not helping friendly NPCs or creatures such as horses as they should have been when these actors were under attack will now do so

General merchant spell book list availability tweaked to have a lesser chance of high level spells and a higher minimum level required before high level spell books become available. Availability is still character level based rather than magical skill based like the usual mage merchants as the general merchants aren't part of the standard system - they'll sell whatever they can without regards to the established norms including from other mods if those mods have added to or modified the standard lists

2 minor edits to records from the latest USLEEP that were missed have been forwarded

Some small navmesh adjustments have been made as well as a few additional trees were added to the Coldstone Mine exterior location

Version 1.0

Initial Release

Donations

Both straight donations and premium membership donations accepted

This is a port of a mod for the original Skyrim - if you are looking for the original version of the mod it can be found >> HERE <<

This mod aims to add on and expand several already existing settlements across Skyrim as well as adds in one (for now) completely new location that is lacking NPCs or structures of any kind in the base game. The minor towns and locations affected by this mod always felt like they were too small as they exist in the base game. People tend to want to live around other people and single houses and production and/or economic buildings usually end up as a draw for other people to live near to them. This mod does this by adding on a building or two, maybe some people that might reasonably live in and around these pre-existing locations and the guards that go with them. Currently as of this release, the mod either modifies or adds as new 7 different settlements around the world of Skyrim.

The goal here is to simply flesh out and add some small additions to areas I felt were lacking and in need of some more life and NPC activity in a believable way without being a massive complex with dozens of buildings and NPCs. Generally speaking, this will be a few buildings, certainly less than 5 as well as the attending NPCs that would go with these structures. So that said, which locations have I added or modified? Read on...

new items such as chairs, benches, crafting stations, and occasionally an ore vein have been added as needed to promote NPC actions

a village guard is present in each location, this is a more combat oriented NPC placed to defend the location and new NPCs

radiant quests that involve the Thieves Guild or The Companions may sometimes choose these new locations if all other quest conditions are met

dragons can and will target and land in and around and on top of the buildings and structures in the settlements

NPCs are set as "protected" as I like my NPCs to stick around

NPCs have full schedules and sandbox routines for more lively interactions with the player and the environment

Coldstone Mine** NEW SETTLEMENT **

Coldstone Mine is a completely new settlement that does not exist in the vanilla game. It is located at the edge of Winterhold Hold near the border with The Pale in the frozen mountains to the southeast of Dawnstar, far to the southwest of Winterhold, east of Duskglow Crevice and to the northwest and high above Silverdrift Lair. See the map screenshot for the exact location of this small mining village. The settlement is not huge but does feature a standard blacksmith vendor, a full complement of crafting stations for all skills either outside or in the various homes as well as a deep and well stocked ebony mine. There are several residential buildings as well that provide housing and shelter to the NPCs that make their home in this frigid outpost. Due to it's location high in the mountains, you can get some spectacular views from the various elevated structures in this settlement.

Features

fully stocked ebony mine with 21 veins of mine-able ore

large multi-level tower with a spectacular viewing vantage as well as sleeping and crafting options

3 residential buildings

1 vendor NPC (blacksmith)

5 miner NPCs

1 playing child

2 chickens

2 Winterhold guards that are civil war aware - the guards will change sides if the hold switches control due to the civil war

all stations for the 3 crafting skills are present inside or outside the structures of the settlement

elevated public deck gathering and cooking spot that overlooks Silverdrift Lair and the main road that passes by it

Sarethi Farm

Originally just a modest farm in The Rift, this location has seen extensive modifications. A fallen tower keep that has largely been reduced to rubble has been added as a strongpoint for the local guards. This spot also includes a public dining and cooking area with an impressive view. An open-air crafting deck has been added that includes the usual crafting stations for all the smiths out there. One additional hold guard has been added to the patrols due to the new residents and buildings at this location. The vanilla quest for the farm that involves searching for Nirnroot has not been edited in any way.

1 Rift Guard added that is civil war aware - guards will change sides if the hold switches control in the course of the civil war

guard patrol paths significantly changed from the default to account for the alterations and more widely patrol the area

main road made more of an actual road - debris and underbrush/grass has been cleared away to indicate a more active settlement

Heartwood Mill

Heartwood Mill is a quiet sawmill location in the base game with only 2 NPCs present by default and 1 guard. There is now an additional building that serves as both a business as well as living quarters for several of the new NPCs. A watch tower with an attentive hold guard has been placed on the western side of the bridge crossing the nearby river/lake to guard against any incursions to the area. The patrol routes the standard and added guards use have been significantly modified in order to better protect this location from any bandits or hostile wildlife.

guards now patrol significantly more of the settlement and cover the main bridge as well

public gathering and cooking spot

Kolskeggr Mine

This location is the source of a vanilla quest to liberate the mine from the control of the Forsworn that have taken it over. It is also the only gold mine in the entire gameworld of Skyrim so freeing it has obvious rewards to the player. A single building has been added that is a combination home and vendor shop that serves the area as well as a guard, worker, and blacksmith to tend to it.

Features

1 new building

1 general worker NPC

1 miner NPC that works in and around the mine itself

1 vendor NPC (blacksmith)

new NPCs are "vanilla quest aware" - see below

** Special Note ** Because this location is featured in a vanilla quest the NPCs that would normally be here will instead be absent until the player completes the quest by clearing the mine of the Forsworn invaders. Once the quest is complete, the NPCs will leave their current location (inside Left Hand Mine) and travel to this location just like the default game NPCs do once the quest completes and resume their normal schedules. Until the quest is complete, the location will be vacant of any new NPCs and under the control of the Forsworn invaders.

Loreius Farm

A simple farm in the base game with 2 NPCs and located in The Pale hold has been expanded considerably now. There are 3 new buildings and 2 vendors as well as several general NPC workers. These workers have their own home as well as jobs in the fields owned by Loreius. The buildings and shops are ideally positioned alongside the main road to catch any travelers heading to or from Whiterun that looms in the near distance. Neither Cicero or the quest this location figures in have been changed in any way.

Features

3 new buildings

1 general merchant

1 blacksmith

1 food vendor NPC with added open air market stall

1 playing child

2 farmer NPCs

additional lighting along the main road has been added

default guard patrol path has been lengthened to account for the new structures along the main road

Soljunds Sinkhole

A simple mine with a single worker house and a smelter by default, this has had an additional farmhouse with a smithy/living area added to the location now. Such a basic enhancement was added as a working mine should always have some workers and a blacksmith. The vanilla quest involving the mine hasn't been changed and proceeds as it does by normally.

Features

2 new buildings

1 general worker NPC

1 miner NPC that works in and around the mine itself (quest aware - will not enter until the mine is cleared)

1 vendor NPC (blacksmith)

1 general goods vendor NPC

guard patrol paths significantly changed from the default to more widely patrol the area

landscape altered somewhat to allow for better NPC movement

some roadside lighting has been added to light the main path

Whistling Mine

A frozen and largely forgotten iron mine in the base game, this location has had a single blacksmith added to forge all the ore the miners pull from the ground. In addition, there is a public warming and supply deck added to the side of the main road that is there for the needs of travelers attempting to make it north or south through the frozen wastes. Not as many new NPCs added here as in other spots due to the frigid conditions and its remote nature - hard to get people to live here after all.

Features

1 new building

1 vendor NPC (blacksmith)

1 hold guard added (Winterhold) that is civil war aware - guards will change sides if the hold switches control in the course of the civil war

public supply and warming deck available for travelers attempting to cross this frozen area

patrol paths for the default guards altered to account for landscape changes

Videos

DonProtein has posted a video overview of all of the locations that have been included in this mod - thanks to DonProtein for the video.

Recommended Complementary Mods

These mods below were either designed around or were directly accounted for during the creation of this mod. They should work flawlessly together and are suggested here as mods you might want to use alongside this one to fill out or complete your mod list. These mods aren't hard requirements so you don't HAVE to use them, but I do suggest you do so as using these mods below compliment using this one nicely in my view.

Note that there are patches available for both mods now that solve some very minor navmesh issues when using both mods. The patch for each location is not strictly required but you can use the one for the specific location if you like and it will fit in your load order.

Concerning Conflicts and Patches

With any location mod that alters or adds to some aspect of the vanilla landscape or buildings such as this one, conflicts with other mods that do the same or similar things are probably inevitable. If you notice such a conflict, please let me know about it. I can't promise I will patch or work around every conflict but I will at least look into a problem to see what could be done to solve the issue.

Please provide as much information as possible and I will attempt to solve the conflict if if I am able to do so without drastic changes to this mod. Single line "conflicts with mod X" types of reports are generally useless and will be ignored. Since I obviously like what I've created in this mod, if it comes down to having to make large changes or deletions to this mod in order to get it working with another well... that's probably not going to happen.

Known Mod Conflicts and Patches

The mods below are either known to conflict or to be compatible either on their own or with the help of a patch. If you know of a mod that isn't listed that has a conflict or you know it to be compatible, post in the comments and I'll update this section as needed.** SSE Note **

All compatible or conflicting mods that have not been converted to the Special Edition have now been removed from this section to avoid confusion as the list was obviously compiled for the original version of Skyrim. Any mods that had or referenced external compatibility patches have also been removed from this section as the patches are no longer valid for this version of the mod.

SSE compliant versions of any mods that conflict would need to be created before any SSE specific patch work could be done. Do not use any mods that have not been converted to SSE versions with this mod or any patches for those mods that have also not been converted.

Compatible

Blackthorn - a patch that resolves the landscape tears and navmesh conflicts between the mods is available in the files section.

Carriage and Ferry Travel Overhaul - a patch that moves the ferryman at Heartwood Mill as well as removes the clashing docks and some other minor objects is available in the files section.

Inns and Taverns SE - patches for both the All-In-One and Modular versions of this mod are now available in the files section. Each patches fixes landscape tears and navmesh conflicts between the mods.

Lanterns of Skyrim - a patch that alters many lanterns in the settlements to use the lighting template from that mod is available (thanks to Astakos).

Legendary Cities - patches for both the All-In-One and Modular versions of this mod are now available in the files section. Each patch make numerous changes to the base experience of using this mod when it comes to the Whistling Mine / Amol location in order to allow both mods to be used together such as removing the blacksmith house and the public cooking/warming platform as well as removing clashing rocks/walls/lights/patrol routes as well as many other things. Using this patch means that your Whistling Mine/Amol location will not look like the screenshots for this mod, but will instead be basically like the Amol portion of the LC mod, a rather drastic but necessary step in getting both mods working together.

No Snow Under the Roof - a patch to add the features of this mod for the two snowy mine locations of Coldstone Mine and Whistling Mine has been added (thanks to Astakos).

Skyrim Better Roads - a patch that moves or deletes a few of the new fences added by this mod to avoid blocking access to new buildings and structures is available in the files section -> there are now two versions of the patch available, one for the Roads all in one merged option and one for the Roads and Bridges all in one merged option, make sure you download the correct version of the patch for the option you've selected for the SBR mod.

I'm always interested to hear new ideas, if you've got a suggestion for a change or improvement or addition to a location or this mod in general, feel free to post in the comment section. If you've got another location you think could use a similar touch as what I've done in this mod to this point, suggest that as well. I've already got some ideas for additional spots (both vanilla and non) myself but more ideas are always a good thing.

Load Order

Load as late as is possible in your load order, certainly after any of the recommended mods above as well as any other location or landscape changing mod that alters any of the same or nearby areas that this mod deals with. Any mod that causes this arrangement to have some type of conflict will have to be looked into and dealt with on a per mod basis - see above concerning any such potential patches.

Installation

Standard install, use the mod manager of your choice to install or just drop the esp and bsa files into your Data directory manually and activate the esp.

Removal

Deactivate the file and then delete the esp and bsa. Shouldn't in theory have any affect on save games, but do be aware that removing mods from an active save game is generally not a good idea - proceed at your own risk.